


too quick, mumbled into your scarf

by respoftw



Series: 35 Ways To Say I Love You In The Pegasus Galaxy [30]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 11:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8444599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: John's sense of direction is terrible and Rodney's worried about his testicles.





	

"Come on McKay, you're from Canada. You should be used to the cold."

Rodney risked lifting his head from where it was hidden in the folds of his scarf just long enough to glare at John. "I'm from Toronto, not the Tundra," he snapped. "Not that you'd know the difference, Colonel. If you're not in the air you couldn't navigate your way out of a paper bag. A point proven by the fact that, right now, this very instant, we are lost. In the middle of nowhere. In the snow. If I freeze a testicle off, I'm never forgiving you."

John raised his eyebrows until they disappeared underneath the snow cap that he was wearing. "Wow," he drawled, "your mind went right to the testicles, huh? Not toes or fingers or nose?"

Rodney huffed, hitching his backpack higher as it threatened to slide off his shoulder. "My second cousin Henry lost a testicle to frostbite," he said. "It happens more than you might think."

"You're not gonna lose a testicle, Rodney." John sounded far too long suffering for Rodney's liking. "And," he continued, "we're not lost. Teyla and Ronon should be waiting for us back at the lodge. Which should be just around those trees over there."

"Those trees?" Rodney pointed. "The trees that we've already walked past four times? Face it, Colonel, you have no idea where we are. We're going to die out here."

"Jesus, Rodney, first you're losing a testicle and now you're dying? This was supposed to be fun."

"Fun?!" Rodney scoffed loudly. "Our ideas of fun are very different. Mine do not include strapping myself to a plank of wood and throwing myself down a mountain."

"It's called snowboarding, Rodney. Besides, you said you liked skiing."

"When?" Rodney challenged. "When did I ever say that I enjoyed skiing?"

John sighed. "That time on PX7-5Y9. When we were talking about holidays we took as kids."

"PX7 - " Rodney frowned. "That was 14 months ago. You remember that?"  Rodney barely remembered that.  

John shuffled his feet. Rodney knew he was probably just trying to keep warm but he looked nervous. Fidgety. "Yeah, I remember it," he said quietly. "And I would have done something about it sooner but there was the Wraith and the Replicators and...it's taken this long for things to calm down enough to get this organised, ok?"

Rodney almost tripped over his sudden realisation (and his feet). "You did this for me," he stated. It wasn't a question, didn't need to be. "Why would you - - how did you even know this place existed?"

It was John's turn to hide his face in his scarf but he wasn't fooling anyone. Rodney knew it wasn't the cold John was hiding from.

"I asked around," John attempted a shrug which was more of a miniscule suggestion of a shrug beneath all the layers that he was wearing. "It's not a big deal."

Rodney shook his head, disbelieving. He stopped walking, his boots buried in snow above the ankle, and looked at the landscape surrounding him. It was beautiful here. The sky a clear blue, the snow the perfect consistency for skiing. Rodney really had loved skiing when he was a kid. Losing himself in the wide white while Jeannie flirted with the instructors, arguing good naturedly with his Dad over the merits of loose powder versus hard packed snow. He'd lost that all when his Dad left, spending the winter break buried in science experiments instead.

John had given him that back.

"It's a huge deal," he disagreed. "This is - - why would you do this?"

John made another of those shrugging approximations as he mumbled into his scarf.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Call that a love confession?" he complained. "I could barely hear you."

"Hey," John's eyes were warm in the cold air. "I planned all this, didn't I? What the hell else do you want?"

Rodney smiled. "Well, maybe not getting lost would have been nice - -"

\-- "We're not lost." --

"-- but I'd settle for sex."

John laughed. "We could do that," he agreed. "Although we should probably find our way back first. You know, before your testicles freeze off."

"Good plan," Rodney laughed. "At least it's a nice day for a walk."

"I thought we were seconds away from having to eat each other for survival," John teased.

"Please," Rodney smirked, leading the way towards the trees. "I'm Canadian."

Best vacation ever.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me on [Tumblr](http://buffycuddlespigs.tumblr.com)


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